COUPLE** is not an actual parmlib member, but a specification of COUPLE=** is understood by XCF to indicate that the system in to be IPLed in XCF-local mode. This is particularly useful when the system must be IPLed in order to rectify parmlib errors in COUPLExx that otherwise cause the IPL to fail.

Like the default COUPLE00 parmlib member, COUPLE=** uses a sysplex name of LOCAL, except when a sysplex name other than LOCAL is specified in LOADxx. In that case, COUPLE=** will use the name specified in LOADxx, thus allowing the IPL to proceed.